Which has been the best decade for music?

[Spiritinthesky]

50's / Elvis, Chuck Berry and Rock & Roll

60's / The Beatles and The British Invasion, Motown, Psychedelia and the beginnings of Heavy Metal

70's / Arena Rock, FM Radio, Punk, Drugs and Rock & Roll. And disco

80's / New Wave, House, Hair Metal and MTV

90's / Grunge, Alternative, RockCountryPop and Boy Groups

00's / Pop Idol, The X Factor, American Idol, everybody reforms and every possible Genre and subgenre imaginable

If you fancy having a vote go to
http://www.thisdayinmusic.com

[begin_within]

1. 1964 to 1974

[dysfunctional press]

41. bingo.

although i pushed it up one year...65-75 no particular reason.

[Lasher]

44. I'll salute that.

:patriot:

[Strong Atheist]

49. Agreed! nt.

[Swede]

2. I like tunes from all of them.

I can't choose,I can't do it.

[Tikki]

3. 1973 to 1983...

I must say....

Tikki

[no name no slogan]

4. 1900s to 1910s

Get the hell off my lawn

[Deja Q]

5. New Wave, British Invasion, REock & Roll

Early 80s.

By 1986, New Wave was dead and music started sounding way too fake...

[Bennyboy]

6. 95 to right now!

So many great bands..Most nobody ever heard of. With Jerry Garcia's passing, tons of bands got noticed that were breaking new goround, like the Dead did back in their day..Phish, Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, SPEARHEAD, Gov't Mule and the GD memebrs individual bands... and so many other rock, jazz, bluegrass, funk groups emerged. All of them with a high level of musicality.

For me the birth of the jam band and it's subsequent growth is the best period in music history, rivaled only by the 1965-1975 era.

[MrScorpio]

7. I can find great music in every decade

Even this one. Except right now there's nothing decent in pop, it's all Underground.

Given that, I have the biggest affinity for the music of the 70's

[charlie and algernon]

8. Either 1717-1727 or 1780-1790

1717 George Handle wrote Water Music.

1725 Opus 8 - Vivaldi's The Four Seasons were published in Amsterdam.

1727 Bach writes St Matthew Passion.





1784 Haydn and Mozart may have meet in Vienna.

Haydn composed the Paris Symphonies (Nos. 82-87).
1785 Mozart dedicated to his friend, Joseph Haydn, six string quartets.

1786 Mozart's Marriage of Figaro first performed.

When Beethoven was sixteen, he played for Mozart, who reportedly said, "Keep your eyes on him; someday he will give the world something to talk about."
1787 Mozart's Don Giovanni was first performed.

Christoph Willibald von Gluck dies.
1788 Carl Philip Emanuel Bach dies.

Mozart composed Symphony No. 40 in G minor and Symphony No. 41 Jupiter.
The Bridge from Classical to Romantic

1789 French Revolution takes place.

George Washington (1789-1797)
1790 Immanuel Kant publishes his Critique of Judgement

Mozart's The Magic Flute was performed.

[BlueJazz]

12. You might like this little story about Tchaikovsky.

One of my departed friends told me this story...When he was a young man in college (I think Berkley ??), he took
Orchestra..He played Classical Trombone.

The instructor was a little old Man from somewhere in Europe.
When the school year first started the Orchestra was playing some piece by Tchaikovsky...

The Trumpets had some part that one of the Trumpet-students thought should be played much louder.

He kept arguing with the Instructor and finally the Student said "Why do we have to play it that way?"

The Instructor said (in broken English) "Ve play it that way because that is the vay Tchaikovsky taught me to play it"

Whoa !!!! :) :)

[charlie and algernon]

13. holy shit!

what year was that?! If I knew someone who learned from one of the great composers, I'd want to soak up everything they knew about him.

[BlueJazz]

14. Well..my Friend died in 1993...he was pretty old.. 95 ??....so I guess...

he would have gone to school in the late Teens ?? or early 20's... which ...if the instuctor was ..umm 65? ...
would have known Tchaikovsky in the 1860? (or something like that ??)

I think Tchaikovsky died in 1890 ???

[charlie and algernon]

15. Wow

yeah, I looked it up, Tchaikovsky died in 1893. Man, to know one of the greats in their prime, you kinda forget that the legendary composers (Beethoven, Tchaikovski, Brahms, Verdi) didn't die all that long ago and certianly in the same time period as our great grandparent and even some grandparents.

[BlueJazz]

17. Yep...what you say is so True...That was one of the times when...

Good Music was Popular and Popular Music was Good. :)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

48. Those are hard decades to beat.

really.

[SCantiGOP]

51. terrific movie about Tchaikovsky

There's a wonderful movie about Tchaikovsky that was one of Ken Russel's earliest works. I have asked Netflix several times to add it to their inventory to no avail. Below is a link to The Music Lovers, which stars Richard Chamberlain and Glenda Jackson. If you think you can find the movie don't read the spoiler below.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Music_Lovers

Much of the film is without dialogue and the story is presented in flashbacks, nightmares, and fantasy sequences set to Tchaikovsky's music. As a child, the composer sees his mother die horribly, forcibly immersed in scalding water as a supposed cure for cholera, and is haunted by the scene throughout his musical career. Despite his difficulty in establishing his reputation, he attracts Madame Nadezhda von Meck as his patron. His marriage to the nymphomaniacal Antonina Miliukova is plagued by his homosexual urges and lustful desire for Count Anton Chiluvsky. The dynamics of his life lead to deteriorating mental health and the loss of von Meck's patronage, and he dies of cholera after deliberately drinking contaminated water.

[Mendocino]

55. 1860's

That is when Piano Concerto in A Minor by Edvard Grieg came out.

Blue Danube and Tales From The Vienna Woods by Strauss weren't too shabby either.

[Deep13]

9. 1820s

[BlueJazz]

10. 1900-1940 A lot of the tunes written in those times still hold up to ....

..Musical Scrutiny.

The chord changes go well beyond the reach of many (so-called) Musicians.

[timtom]

52. I've always cited 1900 to 1945

which is about when bebop started.

[Arugula Latte]

11. I know I will be scorned, but I liked the 80s -- not the pop/Top40 80s, but

the 80s of the Clash, the Smiths, early U2, early REM, Echo and the Bunnymen, World Party, the Jam, New Order, Elvis Costello, Violent Femmes, the Replacements, the Psychedelic Furs, Oingo Boingo, Squeeze, the Chameleons, etc. etc.

[sarge43]

16. 30's Swing. n/t

[WinkyDink]

18. From this list? The 60's.

[racaulk]

19. To me, the 90s.

Of course that's when I was in college, so I have a lot of great memories attached to a lot of 90s music. So, IMHO, that's the best decade of music.

But the 80s are a close second. :)

[Lost in CT]

20. The Seventies... nt

[Urban Prairie]

21. My rankings by decade splits

1) 70-74
2) 65-69
3) 90-94
4) 80-84
5) 75-79
6) 85-89
7) 60-64
8) 55-59
9) 00-04
10) 05-09
11) 50-54
12) 95-99

[Bertha Venation]

22. Seventies. n/t

[bif]

23. The one we're in

There's so much good new music it isn't funny.

[crimsonblue]

24. You forgot an AMAZING decade(s)

You forgot the Jazz Era of the 1910s-1940s. IMO, this is by far the best music we have made thus far.

[leftofthedial]

25. mid 60's to mid-70's,

without any question.

pretty much everything since has been a ripple.

[dysfunctional press]

42. yep.

there's just TOO much to list.

[Initech]

26. The current progressive rock movement has produced some kick ass bands.

Opeth, Dream Theater, Between The Buried And Me, Porcupine Tree, Tool, Radiohead, The Mars Volta, Mastodon, Neurosis, and I'm sure there are a bunch of others I'm forgetting.

[MrSlayer]

27. For me the 80's. The very best Metal was done in that decade.

Bay Area Thrash, New York Hardcore, Euro-Thrash, Florida Death Metal. Ozzy, Priest, Motorhead, Dio and Maiden all had their best material in the 80's.

1986 in particular was a great Metal year, followed closely by 1988.

The 60's probably had the best overall music. Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Doors, Hendrix and so much more.

[NewJeffCT]

29. Sabbath really didn't start until '70 or so

I could swear their first album was 1970, and their seminal album, Paranoid, was 71 or 72, I believe?

but, I agree on the best metal being in the 80s. Metallica had their best material in the 80s, too, IMHO. Ozzy's first two albums were terrific as well.

[MrSlayer]

31. Sabbath formed in 68 as "Earth" but were playing out under the Sabbath name by 69.

First album wasn't until 70.

Metallica's only good material was in the 80's. Everything after Justice is sellout.

[bluesbassman]

32. My brother was in a Thrash Metal band called Shattered Image in the late eighties.

They played a lot at The Omni. Ever go?

[MrSlayer]

35. Not familiar with their work.

Have you any .mp3s?

[bluesbassman]

36. No. I think my brother has some masters somewhere.

I'll have to ask him if he has any mixed down stuff.

[MrSlayer]

37. I'd be interested in hearing it.

Thrash is my particular favorite genre.

[mvd]

28. 50s and 60s are both way up there, but I went with the 60s..

..because of my favorite band, the Beatles. I'm just a classic rock freak all around: I adore The Beatles, Elvis, Simon And Garfunkel, Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Kinks, Moody Blues, Fleetwood Mac, Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, The Who, CCR, CSNY, Dusty Springfield, etc.

70s are next due to more great classic rock like Cheap Trick and Blondie.

80s had U2, R.E.M., The Bangles, Go Gos, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael Jackson.

90s still had great stuff, but the teen pop explosion makes it the worst for me.

Lots of great stuff in the 00s putting it slightly better than the 80s overall.

[Common Sense Party]

45. What have you liked in the 00's?

I like the 60s and 70s, for a lot of the same artists you mention. I love the 80s. I had to be much more selective in the 90s, and now I just don't even bother, because everything I hear annoys me.

[mvd]

50. Wow, now you started something, LOL - I could have a LONG list

I like pop artists such as The Corrs, Michelle Branch, The Veronicas, Avril Lavigne, Aly & AJ, A Fine Frenzy, Anna Nalick, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Barenaked Ladies, Jimmy Eat World, Joshua Radin, Kate Voegele, The Love Willows, Leslie Mills, The Pierces, Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Sarah McLachlan, Kay Hanley, Nina Gordon, Jessica Harp, Amy Winehouse, Anthony Hamilton, new Mandy Moore, Vanessa Carlton, Coldplay, Travis, Damone, The Dollyrots, Hey Monday, etc.

I love others such as The New Pornographers, Brandi Carlile, The Decemberists, The Hold Steady, Oh, Alexis!, TV On The Radio, Radiohead, Neko Case, Miranda Lee Richards, Josh Ritter, Butch Walker, Nicole Atkins, Little Big Town, Cindy Alexander, Regina Spektor, Duncan Sheik, Stars, etc.

Older artists like Bruce Springsteen, Indigo Girls, Steve Earle, Sheryl Crow, Aimee Mann, Lucinda Williams, and U2 are still going strong.

[greendog]

30. '20's.

The '30's and '40's were great too.

[Jamastiene]

33. 90s

70s for punk
90s for grunge/punk/alternative/freaky combinations of jazz and punk and everything else under the sun and punk

punk
punk
punk

that's my favorite.

:)

[Pierre.Suave]

34. Beethoven

What decade was he in?

[Common Sense Party]

38. The 1980s, no further discussion necessary.

Ok, that's just MY personal opinion.

[mvd]

39. Some of my very favorites were big in the 80s

I forgot to mention in my above post artists like Bruce Springsteen and The Cars..

[City of Mills]

54. Any decade featuring Rick Astley is automatically disqualified.

Sorry! :)

[dysfunctional press]

40. for many of us- it's more about how we were doing in each particular decade...

with the music of each pretty much being the soundtrack of our lives. when things were going good- so was the music. for me it was the mid-80's to the mid-90's that i personally most identified with...
but 65-75 had to be one of the most mind-boggling ten-year stretches- the beatles, the doors, hendrix, zeppelin, even nugent...and much MUCH more.

[dana_b]

43. 60s for me BUT I love grunge, punk and a lot

more from all of those decades.

[blue_onyx]

46. Most of the music I like is from the late 90s and 00s

[MissMillie]

47. I always think of the early 90s as the female singer/songwriter time

Sarah McLachlan
Sheryl Crow
Shawn Colvin
Aimee Mann
Tori Amos

The whole Lilith Fair thing, you know? I just love it.



Some great stuff there

[Forkboy]

53. I can find awesome shit from any of them.

There's always great music out there at any time if one needs it bad enough. :)